Self-Report

Question 1

What method of gaining data do questionnaires use?

Answer 1

Written methods of gaining data.

Question 2

How can questionnaires be completed?

Answer 2

By the participants or may act as a set of questions that a researcher reads to the participant whose answers are recorded.

Question 3

Fill in the blanks: Questionnaires ____ necessarily require the ________ of the researcher.

Answer 3

1) don’t
2) presence

Question 4

What is the person completing the questionnaire known as?

Answer 4

A respondent.

Question 5

What two formats can questionnaires be presented in?

Answer 5

Paper-based and electronic.

Question 6

What is the person being interviewed known as?

Answer 6

An interviewee.

Question 7

Fill in the blanks: Interviews involve ______ ______ questioning of the subject by the __________ (e.g. face-to-face, or over the phone).

Answer 7

1) direct verbal
2) researcher

Question 8

What are the three options in regards to the structure of interviews?

Answer 8

Structured, semi-structured and unstructured.

Question 9

Describe what an open question is.

Answer 9

A participant is asked to respond to a set question but leave a blank underneath the question so participants can answer in whatever style they choose.

Question 10

What is the purpose of using an open question.

Answer 10

To assess a person’s emotions or the reasons why they choose to do certain things.

Question 11

What type of data do open questions produce?

Answer 11

Qualitative data.

Question 12

Describe what an closed question is.

Answer 12

Answers are given to the participant and they have to choose the most appropriate answer for them.

Question 13

What type of data can responses from a closed question be turned into?

Answer 13

Quantitative data.

Question 14

What are the advantages of using closed questions?

Answer 14

Collection of quantitative data which is easy to analyse/compare.
Quick and easy for the participant to answer.

Question 15

What are the disadvantages of using closed questions?

Answer 15

Lacks reasoning for why they selected the option they did.
Participants might be forced to select an option which isn’t true for them.

Question 16

What are the advantages of using open questions?

Answer 16

Provides more rich, detailed data.
Doesn’t force participants to give a particular response.

Question 17

What are the disadvantages of using open questions?

Answer 17

Time-consuming to complete by the participants and for the researcher to analyse the responses collected.
Responses may not be relevant to what the researcher was interested in.

Question 18

What can rating scales relate to?

Answer 18

Attitudes towards something.
Emotions and feelings a person may be having.

Question 19

What are the advantages of using rating scales?

Answer 19

It gives the researcher an idea of how strongly a participant feels about something.
It is more detailed than a simple yes or no answer.
It still gives quantitative data that can be compared.

Question 20

What are the disadvantages of using rating scales?

Answer 20

There can be a tendency for participants to choose the middle scale so they don’t look too extreme.
Rating scales still don’t give you an idea of WHY participants have chosen that option.
People might interpret the scale differently (one person’s 5/10 might be different from another person’s 5/10).

Question 21

Describe a likert scale.

Answer 21

Attitude scales in which the respondent is given a statement and asked to indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with it

Question 22

If you have lots of similar-looking scales, participants may agree with the first few and find themselves always picking ‘agree’ on the scales, what is this called?

Answer 22

A standard response set.

Question 23

What is a standard response set?

Answer 23

The tendency to give the same answer in response to all of the different statements.

Question 24

How can you avoid a response set?

Answer 24

Vary the statement wording so that some are positive e and others are negative.

Question 25

Describe semantic differentials.

Answer 25

These make use of polar opposites and respondents indicate where they would place their feelings in relation to the topic in question.

Question 26

What is the purpose of an ethics statement?

Answer 26

Informs participants of their rights such as being able to withdraw their data at any time from the research and checks that they give consent to take part.

Question 27

Describe was a structured interview is.

Answer 27

The interviewer asks the same questions to each participant in the same order. Closed questions are often used, with the interviewee picking the answer that is closest to their own view.

Question 28

What are the strengths of a structured interview?

Answer 28

Using the same questions means the interviews are standardised and replicable.
Responses can be easily compared.

Question 29

What are the weaknesses of a structured interview?

Answer 29

The interviewer cannot ask any additional questions - may prevent them from seeking further clarification.

Question 30

Describe was a semi-structured interview is.

Answer 30

The interviewer will have a set of pre-prepared questions to ask and is expected to ask all of them; other questions will be developed during the interview in response to answers given by the interviewee.

Question 31

What are the strengths of a semi-structured interview?

Answer 31

Allows the interviewer to use additional questions to seek clarification on a response, or to explore an interesting comment made during one of the set questions.

Question 32

What are the weaknesses of a semi-structured interview?

Answer 32

Although there is some flexibility the interview is still likely to be constrained around the pre-determined questions.
Any additional questions not decided beforehand may vary from participant to participant making it difficult to compare.

Question 33

Describe was a unstructured interview is.

Answer 33

The researcher has topics to discuss but these don’t have to be in the same order for each participant. The interview is more like a conversation, with further questions being developed in response to the interviewee’s answers.

Question 34

What are the strengths of an unstructured interview?

Answer 34

Allows for information to be gathered that might not be revealed from the pre-determined questions,
Allows the interviewer to have the freedom to ask on-the-spot questions which could be relevant.

Question 35

What are the weaknesses of an unstructured interview?

Answer 35

Difficult to compare responses from the different participants, as they may have been asked different questions.

Question 36

What are four advantages of using questionnaires?

Answer 36

Can answer them more anonymously so more likely to get responses to ‘embarrassing’ questions.
Quicker to complete for participants (involve more closed questions).
Can collect large amounts of data by sending it out to participants.
Participants can take more time to consider responses.

Question 37

What are two disadvantages of using questionnaires?

Answer 37

People may not return questionnaires leading to a low response rate.
People may misunderstand questions/interrupt them differently to how you intended (making results invalid).

Question 38

What are three advantages of carrying out interviews?

Answer 38

Can ask follow-up questions based on responses.
Can get more detailed answers for questions than questionnaires provide.
You can build a rapport with interviewees, and read their body language.

Question 39

What are three disadvantages of carrying out interviews?

Answer 39

May not get full answers to questions.
Can be time-consuming to complete.
More difficult to analyse if open questions are used.

Question 40

What is meant by internal reliability?

Answer 40

How consistent the measure is within itself.

Question 41

How can you test internal reliability?

Answer 41

By using a split-half method.

Question 42

Describe how a spilt-half method is carried out.

Answer 42

This involves splitting the questions in two (e.g. first half vs. second half, even vs. odd number questions). Then comparing responses between the two halves to see if they are consistent.

Question 43

What is meant by external reliability?

Answer 43

How consistent is the measure when repeated over time.

Question 44

How can external reliability be examined?

Answer 44

With the test-retest method.

Question 45

Describe how the test-retest method is carried out.

Answer 45

Giving the same questionnaire to participants at different points in time. If they respond in the same way, the results are consistent.

Question 46

What is face validity?

Answer 46

How accurate the measure looks at first glance (on the face of it).

Question 47

What is construct validity?

Answer 47

How accurately does the test measure what it is trying to measure (are extraneous variables controlled for?)?

Question 48

What is concurrent validity?

Answer 48

Does the test give the same results as another test or study?

Question 49

What is criterion validity?

Answer 49

Can this test predict the results of another test?

Question 50

What is nominal data?

Answer 50

A simple tally when data is put into categories (e.g. number of people who pass or fail a test).

Question 51

What is ordinal data?

Answer 51

When participants can be placed in rank order based on their scores on a measure (highest to lowest, best to worst).

Question 52

What is interval/ratio data?

Answer 52

Scores can be measured on a scientific scale (metres, seconds, grams, etc.). The difference between values is known and equal (i.e. 10g is twice as much as 5g).